Health Psychology Careers

[TomWaitsForNoOne]

I'm really interested in pursuing a clinical psychology PhD with an emphasis in health psychology, but I have to admit that I don't really know all of the career and job options that would be available to me after I finish. Could anyone give me a better idea of the various different options for clinical health psychologists? If it matters, I currently do chronic pain research and want to apply to work with professors who do similar pain research.

Thanx!

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[sfgucadoc]

I've worked in cancer survivorship, symptom management, quality of life, sex therapy for most of my career. Both clinically and doing research in those areas. It's challenging to support yourself in an academic medical center as a psychologist but it can be done if you write grants, do some clinical work, and take on some part-time admin roles that can provide salary support.

You might take a look at the Society of Behavioral Medicine job board. Their job ads might give you a bit of an idea of range and variation of clinical health psychologist roles out there.

 

[TomWaitsForNoOne]

I've worked in cancer survivorship, symptom management, quality of life, sex therapy for most of my career. Both clinically and doing research in those areas. It's challenging to support yourself in an academic medical center as a psychologist but it can be done if you write grants, do some clinical work, and take on some part-time admin roles that can provide salary support.

You might take a look at the Society of Behavioral Medicine job board. Their job ads might give you a bit of an idea of range and variation of clinical health psychologist roles out there.

Thanks for the info!

What about more clinical jobs? The PI in my lab and other faculty and university have been great resources for academic careers, but I don't really know much about the clinical options.

I looked at the job board you mentioned, but there didn't seem to be all that many listings. I've been lurking here for a while and seen some posters mention doing assessment. Do you know what kinds of assessment or clinical jobs there are out there for health psychologists?

 

[thebalmofhurtminds]

Thanks for the info!

What about more clinical jobs? The PI in my lab and other faculty and university have been great resources for academic careers, but I don't really know much about the clinical options.

I looked at the job board you mentioned, but there didn't seem to be all that many listings. I've been lurking here for a while and seen some posters mention doing assessment. Do you know what kinds of assessment or clinical jobs there are out there for health psychologists?

I'm a health psychologist. There are certainly a number of clinical jobs for health psychologists housed within specialty health care clinics (e.g. oncology, pain, etc.). Outside of AMCs and hospital systems, many VAs have psychologists who specialize in pain, sleep, health promotion/disease prevention... Assessment can be focused on specific health issues or evaluations such as pre-surgicals, capacity (although this tends to be neuro or psychiatry, depending on the place), etc.

The Society for Health Psychology has a job page as well that includes more clinical jobs. Something to look into.

 

[hillies]

You may also want to check out some other health psychology specialty association pages for additional ideas/job specifics. Happy to discuss more over PM too. Some examples:

American Association of Pain Psychology (AAPP)

The American Association of Pain Psychology (AAPP) is a national, multidisciplinary community of pain providers serving youth and adults living with chronic pain. AAPP was established in 2010 to provide a place for pain providers to educate, network, advocate, and share information regarding the...

aapainpsychology.org

APOS | American Psychosocial Oncology Society

apos-society.org

 

[deleted343839]

What about more clinical jobs? The PI in my lab and other faculty and university have been great resources for academic careers, but I don't really know much about the clinical options.

In addition to specialty settings like pain, cancer, sleep, etc. there is integrated primary care. Behavioral health faculty jobs in primary care departments are often good jobs for clinically-oriented people who still want to do some scholarship and/or teaching. You can check out this site for more info including a job board: Collaborative Family Healthcare Association